Summer Days 2-4

Day 2: Well, I try...I really do, but sometimes I am just not in a position to be able to get to a computer. So let me recap the last few days in one lump sum! Friday, the 2nd...I started my day off doing my 2 mile run/walk (as I call it), took Mom to Walmart (her favorite place)...I feel bad for her...she has Shingles and hasn't gotten out of the house much. I do think she is starting to feel somewhat better though. It apparently is a long healing process....Washed and packed clothes....My husband and I went to the mountains of NC to visit a very special friend and her daughter. Actually, Leah is my former sister-in-law....when she divorced Brett's step-brother...we got her in the settlement. She is the closest thing to a sister I have ever had...although never having had a sister...not sure what that would be....but sounds good anyway. We are truly sisters in Christ though. Spent a lot of time on my swing reading and writing on my blog. We left for Arden around 6pm...it's about a 3.5 hr trip (including all the stops). We always have a great time with Leah and Anna....So that was my day in a nut shell.

Day 3: Today was a very busy day. As always started with me doing my run/walk....Leah's community is mostly up hill, so I got quite a work out this day. We spent the morning hours running errands. Went to Sam's...I love that place. They had some dresses that I wanted to look at for our trip to Hawaii and ended up getting two of them....My family thought I was kooky when I tried them on in the store over my clothes...well, how else will I know if they fit. Sam's does not have a dressing room for trying on clothing.

The last time we went Sam's Anna and I came across these incredibly soft plush blankets for sale...I made a silly remark to Anna about them...she got the biggest kick out of it...so it became a little joke between us. Anna is my 14year old niece...and will be entering the 9th grade next year. We have a lot of fun together...just being silly. I loved teasing Anna about the blankets and made her walk around Sam's  with our hands stuck inside the blanket, we looked like we were wearing a giant hand muff. Wouldn't have been so strange to see...if it hadn't been 90 degrees out! We had fun though.

After Sam's we went to eat lunch at a sweet 'lil restaurant in Asheville called the Blue Sky Cafe. It was delicious...one of a kind...so if you are ever in the Asheville area...be sure to stop by there for a meal!

After lunch we had to do it...yes...that's right...we HAD to go to Walmart....Leah hates grocery shopping (maybe as much as me). That was always her (beloved) Chris's job. He loved Walmart and shopping...come to think of it...Chris just LOVED!!! So Anna and I decided that we would take on the groceries, to give her a break. So while Anna and I shopped...she and Brett ran the Sam's purchases back to the house and then came back and got us. But first Leah had to search for containers...very large containers...so she could begin organizing her garage (which was one reason we were there). Finally, after all carts were full we headed home to tackle the garage, but not before we could get in some Chonda Pierce. Brett needed a nap and the girls rested and watched some Chonda...she cracks us up.

Dinner time came, we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs (we must give credit where credit is due...Brett grilled)....Anna and I made the Della's Beans (our favorite), Leah, well, she opened the container of potato salad. Dinner was scrumptious....nothing like grilled hamburgers and hot dogs!

Then, the time came to start on the garage! We had the sell pile, keep pile, trash pile, and the I don't know pile...made good progress, but after several hours decided to call it quits for the night...tomorrow was another day and we would finish then. So, we ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples, with Leah winning of course. After Anna was tucked into bed we decided to attempt to watch a documentary on the Galapagos Islands....I say attempted because I don't think Leah and I got very far with it...finally Brett suggested we just go to sleep and start all over again tomorrow....and we did!!!

It had been a long, but very productive day!



Day 4-  Worship time at Biltmore Baptist Church....I feel like this BBC is my church away from church, home away from home. Not only is Pastor Bruce Frank an amazing and annointed man of God...he is also friends with my Pastor, from The Summit; JD Greear. They are similar in their teaching, therefore, I always feel right at home when I am Worshipping at BBC. I have also come to know and love many of the wonderful folks in Leah's Sunday School Class. Leah and I teased one Sunday that they should just Skype me into their class on Sunday's. It was, as usual, a fabulous day at Church.

After, several back and forth discussions on where to eat for lunch, we settled on Papas and Beer (another great restaurant). Brett had not been there yet, though I knew it was a favorite of Chris and Leah's and thought it might be difficult to go...but Leah assured me it was OK. She had already been there several times. It just happened to be the last place that I ate with Chris. The Sunday, prior to his death, he and Leah took me there. They loved Papas and Beer and wanted me to experience it for myself. After going, I understood why it was one of their favorites.

We didn't wait too long to tackle the rest of the garage though, once we got home. There was much to do. It was a much needed task to be done, but it wasn't without emotions. I felt at times as though I was invading Chris's privacy...Leah got angry at times...that he would leave her to take on the monumental task without him. Grief is so painful, on so many different levels. There were times we would laugh at the items we found...remembering Chris. Then, there were those times we just shook our heads in disbelief at the thought of his not being with us here on this earth any longer. And the day didn't go by without any tears being shed...as we all thought about how much we missed him in our own ways. Knowing that we will see him again someday gives us all hope that this isn't the end!!! We all look forward to that day...no one more than Leah though.

Soon it was time to head home...so Brett and I packed the car...gave Leah and Anna one last hug and on the road again we traveled. It's always so difficult to leave them. But they know we aren't far away. we look forward to seeing them again soon. We arrived home about 9:30pm. Mom was waiting up for us, as usual...she misses her family terribly when we aren't there. With the Shingles she wasn't able to travel this time...maybe on the next trip. To bed we went...it would be a new day tomorrow and much to be accomplished. Goodnight All!